Count Benyowsky's memoirs, volume two: from Kamchatka to Madagascar
The second volume of a Hungarian-Polish adventurer's much-doubted memoir, covering his 1771 voyage from Kamchatka to Macao and his Madagascar colony.
Full title Memoirs and Travels
Maurice Benyowsky
Maurice (Móric) Benyovszky (1746-1786), a Hungarian-Polish nobleman, fought with the Bar Confederation, was captured by the Russians and exiled to Kamchatka, then led a mutiny and escape by ship in 1771. His memoirs were published in English in 1790, 'translated from the original manuscript'. This corpus copy is Volume II only: it opens at Formosa in August 1771 and covers Macao, the voyage to France and the Madagascar settlement. The Siberian and Kamchatka chapters are in Volume I, which is not in this corpus, so there is nothing substantial here about Tartars.
- How they knew
- Part eyewitness
- Who “Tartar” means here
- In this volume the word appears only once, for Qing ('Tartar') soldiers or attendants who rode with him near Canton in January 1772.
- Why read it
- Only as a reminder that this famous Siberian adventure has a second volume that leaves Tartary behind; learners wanting Kamchatka and Siberia need Volume I.
- Watch out
- Benyowsky's claims are notoriously embroidered and much of his narrative cannot be verified. The 1790 OCR prints the long s as f and is badly garbled in places.
What it says
No quotes from this one yet. Its text is out of reach for now, or the scan could not be read.
The fine print
How we know
claimed or disputed Authorship, date or authenticity is claimed or contested.
Claimed captivity / travel memoir
Research notes
- Authorship, editor's role and individual exploits require corroboration; not certified as wholly firsthand.
Why it matters
An extensive, sometimes sensational narrative relevant to Russian Asia.
Places named
Kamchatka; Siberia; Pacific